Number 6
by Swift-Revived
Summary: Everything was normal for Chat Noir and Ladybug, an Akuma would attack and then they would save the day. Until, one day, a new hero shows up in Paris.
1. Chapter 1

"Marinette, did you catch what I posted on the ladyblog last night?" Alya asked her tired best friend when she sat down beside her.

"Not yet, Alya," she spoke through a yawn, "what did I miss?"

She whipped out her phone and pushed it into Marinette's face, "There's a brand new Super Hero girl!"

Marinette suddenly felt less tired and looked into her friend's phone. A new hero? She thought, another miraculous? On the screen, there was just a picture of a yellow blur.

"Are you sure someone didn't just throw a banana?"

Alya laughed, "Not this time. I've been looking around the superhero forums and there are rumors of another hero. But they always seem to disappear before anyone can get a good photo of them."

"If they didn't want anyone to see them, why are they wearing yellow?"

She grabbed onto Marinette's shoulder, "I have no clue, but I'm going to find out."

"How's that?"

Marinette felt Alya's finger dig deeper into her shoulder, "I"m going to get an interview."

"If they're even real," Nino chimed in from the row in front of them. "I was with you when you went through those forums, none of it's true"

Alya gazed down at him as if he had insulted all she held dear, Nino raised his hands and returned to his work.

"He may have a point," Marinette tried to stop her friend from killing her boyfriend. "What if it is just rumors or someone running around playing dress up to mess with people?"

"Well then…" Alya searched for the words, "I'll prove that they're just a myth!"

"Alright, students, settle down," Ms. Bustier instructed them.

Marinette could only describe the hours that followed as the most boring day in education history. As the day dragged on, questions filled Marinette's head, questions that had no answers. Is this person real? If so, who was this person? Were they new to being a superhero or had they been doing this a while? If so, why had they only shown up now? Was something big happening? Why yellow?

And most importantly, why hadn't Adrien shown up to school yet?

It wasn't until Marinette and Alya were at lunch that the Adrien ran into the school. He was breathing heavily and his forehead shined from the sweat running down his face. He scanned the courtyard and shambled his way over to the pair of girls.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked, sliding his bag onto the ground.

"Uh...W-well… y-y-you, see…" Marinette's face began to look more and more red as she tried to talk, "we… Ummm…"

"Make yourself at home," Alya translated.

Adrien collapsed onto the floor and let his body relax. There was a silence between the trio and Alya turned towards her stammering friend and gave her a sly wink. Marinette shook her head, but Alya wasn't listening. She turned back to the dying boy, "so, why do you look like you outran death?"

"In a way-" he swung himself up to face the girls "-I actually did."

He took a breath.

"I may or may not have gotten caught sneaking out last night and my father is not the most forgiving of people. So, this morning I waited for a good time and make a break for school."

Another breath.

He placed a hand on the back of his neck and let out a little chuckle, "He may have also sent people after me, so I ran."

"I don't think I'll ever understand you," Alya spoke with a hand to her head. "Your punishment for sneaking out was staying home from school and you snuck out again to come to school?"

"Alyaaa," Marinette whimpered as she hit her arm

Adrien laughed again and Marinette couldn't help but notice how when he smiled he seemed to glow in the sunlight and she felt her heart to skip a beat. "It's alright, Marinette…"

Marinette had lost all sense in her body as she heard her own name run along the tongue of Adrien Agreste and leave out of his mouth. The way the edges of his mouth raised as he said it only made her fall for him more.

"...I just like going to school. It's the only time I really get to be free from a fixed schedule… in a sense."

"So… umm… Adrien…"

Her two friends turned to look at her, one with a friendly smile and the other with a devious one. "H-have you heard ab-about the h-hero yellow? I m-mean the y-y-yellow um…"

Marinette turned her eyes to Alya and gave her a look of desperation. "You mean the new superhero in Paris? He seems interesting," Adrien spoke through recovering from his lack of breath, "but yellow is a weird color for them to wear. What do you guys think of them?"

"Nino doesn't think he's a real, but I'm sure that I'm going to prove his existence and be the first person to get a good photo of them."

Adrien's head turned towards Marinette and their eyes locked on to each other. She lost herself and her words in his emerald green eyes. She could see the two of them as the walked down the aisle while she's wearing a dress she designed with her arms wrapped around Adrien and they go home to three kids and-

"Marinette?"

His angelic voice broke her train of thought. "What do you think of them?"

"W-well if he… umm… their c-costume is like people say, it could use some w-work."

"Not a fan of traffic light yellow?"

"N-not the most s-stealthiest color."

He laughed. She made him laugh. She made him laugh.

"Good one, Marinette-" He groaned as he forced himself onto his feet "-but I should go see Ms. Bustier about class."

"Marinettecouldhelpyouwiththat," Alya blurted out before Adrien had the chance to get away.

He turned back around to the girls, "Pardon?"

Alya elbowed Marinette. She gulped and spoke at the speed of light, "She said that if you needed help with anything that we learned in class today, you can just ask me."

"I'll make sure I do, thanks."

Alya knocked her fist into Marinette's shoulder, "Did you hear that? He's totally going to text you later."

Marinette was stuck, she wasn't able to move her body. Alya punched her consciousness back into her. "You owe me," she joked, "big time.

"Y-y-yea, big time."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Marinette flung herself down onto her bed, "What am I going to do Tikki?"

The little red Kwami flew beside her holder's head, "What do you mean what are you going to do? You don't have to do anything, he may not even text you at all."

"That's the problem, if he does text me I know I'll just end up saying something stupid and he'll think I'm weird or a creep or something and if he doesn't text me does that mean he doesn't want to talk to me?"

"Or he understood the work. Remember, you said to text him if he had trouble, he's a smart kid."

Marinette grabbed a pillow and pushed it deep into her face and let out a scream. "You know, Marinette," Tikki flew by her ear, "Maybe he's nervous to talk to you."

Marinette's scream turned into heavy laughter as she moved the pillow off her face. "Tikki, you know that's the furthest from the truth you've ever been. He's a supermodel and the most beautiful person on the planet. Why would a clumsy nobody make him nervous in the slighte-"

Her phone vibrated and Marinette caught it before it fell off her bed. "Oh god-" She threw her phone back onto her bed "-It's Adrien."

Tikki brought her phone back to her hands. "You should text him back"

The kwami dropped the phone into Marinette's shaky hands and she gripped onto the phone tighter than she would hold onto Adrien if she gave her the chance. "You can do it Marinette, I believe in you."

19:08 Adrien - "Hey, Marinette, Are you still awake?"

19:12 Marinette - "yea what's up?"

"Oh god, I just said 'what's up'. What's wrong with me?"

19:12 Adrien - "I was just doing some of the homework and had a couple questions"

19:13 Adrien - "if you're willing to answer them."

19:14 Marinette - "Ask away"

19:16 Adrien - "Actually, I have quite a few questions. Would it be possible for us to meet up?"

19:16 Adrien - "If that's ok with you."

Adrien sat at his computer, one screen with the ladyblog's latest post and the other with the math questions due in a few days. "She hasn't answered, do you think I offended her?"

The black kwami rolled onto his side, "I don't even understand why you're asking her on a date."

"It's not a date, Plagg."

"Two people 'meeting up'? Sounds like a date to me."

"It's not like that, I just want to spend time with her."

"Like a date?"

"No, I just want to make sure she knows that I'm sorry for what happened."

"You mean the gum thing?"

"Yea."

"That was a million years ago, if she hasn't forgotten about it, I'm sure she's fine with you."

"I just want to make sure… would a gift be too much?"

"You know what I always say, camembert is the way to the heart… speaking of…"

"Later, Plagg."

His phone vibrated.

19:20 Marinette - "yea sure"

19:20 Marinette - "where?"

19:21 Adrien - "How about tomorrow after school in the library?"

19:22 Marinette - "I have to work in my parent's store tomorrow…"

19:24 Marinette - "But I'll see if they'll let me off tomorrow"

19:24 Adrien - "You shouldn't do that for me, I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out on my own."

Marinette glued her eyes to her screen as she spoke to Tikki, "What should I do?"

Tikki landed on her phone and pushed it downward until Marinette's eyes no longer reflected its light. "You could suggest that he work with you, it would make the work go faster," she suggested.

Marinette's mind drifted off as she imagined Adrien donning an apron and cooking alongside her, with flour being sprayed everywhere while he gives her that smile that makes the sun come out. She snapped out of her daydream and wiped away some drool from the corner of her mouth, "I have an idea."

19:26 Marinette - "If you really want me to work, you could always work in the shop by the window"

19:27 Adrien - "Wouldn't I be in the way?"

19:27 Marinette - "Just as long as you buy something, I don't think my parents would mind all that much"

19:28 Adrien - "Sounds like a plan! :D"

Marinette fell back into her ensemble of pillows and brought her phone to her chest, letting out a loving sigh.

Her eyes clicked open.

"I think I just set up a date with Adrien," she whispered in disbelief.


	3. Chapter 3

Adrien had been sitting on the floor for almost two hours. His arched his back as he typed on his laptop. _I've been sitting here for too long_ , he thought, _I should have said something by now_.

Plagg stuck his black little head out of "What's wrong kid?"

"Plagg," Adrien pushed his downward to hide his kwami from Marinette, "what are you doing?"

"Getting you off your feet."

Adrien saw his kwami fly out his pocket and behind one of the counters. I'm going to kill that kwami. He looked over to Marinette, she was looking down at her notepad and scribbling… something. Adrien clambered to his feet and let out a small groan of pain, as it felt like he was trying to get 100-year-old gears to move. _Maybe I should have gotten up sooner._

Marinette noticed his movements almost instantaneously, "I-is everything a-a-alright, Adrien?"

"Well-" he walked up to the counter and placed a hand on one of the display cases, looking at all the delectable treats inside "- you said I should buy something before your parents think I'm loitering."

The smile that he shot in her direction stole the breath from her body, along with her consciousness. "Uh… w-what get you can? I mean… what c-can I get you?"

He looked into her eyes and got sucked into the ocean inside them. "W-what do you recommend?"

Adrien looked away and grabbed at his throat. _Did I just stutter?_

Marinette didn't seem to notice as she gripped on tighter to the notepad in her hands. "Well… the croissants a-are always good pretty."

"Fantastic. I'll take two of those," he spoke with that glowing smile on his face as he pulled out his wallet, "how much is that going to be?"

She brought her hand up and shakily waved it at him, "Don't w-worry about i-it."

"You really shouldn't give me any discounts. I insist that I pay."

"Oh," Marinette placed her hand against her neck and looked down at the cash register, "if y-you insist."

As he handed her the coins, she opened the register and started to reach for his change. "Don't worry about it," he spoke with a voice that sounded like a thousand angels singing as their voices echoed across the heavens, "you can keep the change."

She quietly nodded as she closed the register and grabbed a pair of tongs. "Oh, Marinette?"

She responded without looking up, fearing the ensnarement of his eyes, "Yes?"

"Do you think you could deliver it to my table?"

He looked back at the small gap in the dirt that had formed on his "seat". As he turned back to her, she quietly nodded and looked back down towards the croissant bag. He let out a giggle as he spoke to the top of her head, "Thank you, Marinette."

Adrien sat back down on the floor and leaned back against the wall and closed the screen of his laptop. He watched as Marinette slowly looked over the rows of croissants and picked out the two freshest pastries and placed them in a small bag. He gave her a small smile as she walked over to him and he padded the floor beside himself.

She hesitantly sat down beside Adrien and placed her hands calmly on her lap and stuck her eyes onto the floor in front of them. Adrien placed his hand on the bag that Marinette was still holding onto and his skin fell down on top of hers. As his smooth skin brushed against hers, she could feel her heart melting and spill among the rest of her insides.

As Adrien realized that their hands were touching, he quickly pulled his away. "Sorry about that," he laughed, "I guess I get a bit 'agreste'-ive when I'm hungry."

The two of them sat in silence as Marinette quietly sat, gripping tightly onto the small bag, seemingly missing Adrien's hilarious joke. "Marinette?" Sabine called out from behind the counters.

"Coming Maman," she called back, sprinting away from the awkward position she was stuck in.

As that last hair on Marinette's head disappeared from view, Adrien could see the little black head of his Kwami smiling deviously back at him. Plagg flew back into Adrien's inside pocket. "You have to be more careful, Marinette almost spotted you."

"I'm too fast for her, besides, she stole your croissants."

Adrien felt his stomach growl at him. "Fine, we'll get the croissants first, then I'll deal with you."

He stood himself up and made his way over to the counter. "Hello, Adrien," Sabine spoke with her calm yet loving voice,"How can I help you today?"

"Good Afternoon, Ms. Dupain-Cheng," he said with a small nod, quickly looking behind her for Marinette, "I bought a couple treats a minute ago, but I think Marinette took them when she ran off."

"Oh, I apologize, let me go get them for you."

"That's quite alright, Ms. DuPain-Cheng, I'll buy some more tomorrow."

"Nonsense, wait right there, I'll be back in a-"

"Honey," a deeper voice called out from another room, "could I get some help with this?"

"One second, Sweetie," she spoke to her husband before returning her attention to Adrien, "It seems like I have my hands full at the moment, but feel free to go on right upstairs."

"Oh, I really shouldn't go upstairs uninvited."

"Don't be ridiculous, just make sure you knock before you enter."

Sabine disappeared before Adrien could try to wiggle himself out of the situation. "So," Plagg spoke slyly from Adrien's pocket, "you going to go up into her room?"

"I really shouldn't."

"You really should."

"Why?"

"You're the one that wanted to make sure she was okay. Isn't that why you came here in the first place?"

Adrien snarled at the Kwami before he made his way around the counter and past the bakery section of the building. As he passed, he saw both of Marinette's parent's trying to settle an almost twelve-foot cake.

He walked through the open door and up the stairs to Marinette's room and knocked on the trap door. "Marinette?"

Her heart froze. _Why was he up here?_ Her eyes scanned her room. _I can't let him in here._

"Marinette?" he called out again. "Is everything okay?"

She looked down to see the pastry bag still in her hands. _Oh._

She swung open the trap door and threw his bag onto his chest. "Hey, Marinette?" he spoke while she tried to close the trapdoor.

"Y-yes?"

"Do you think I could come up for a second?"

The two stood in silence for several eons before Adrien spoke again. "I'm sorry, that was really inappropriate of me… I'll show my-"

She grabbed onto the back of his shirt and pulled him up. _Marinette's pretty strong_. As he gathered his footing and took a deep breath, he turned himself around to face the blushing girl. He got lost in those blue eyes of her again, even if they seemed to be avoiding all contact. They looked so similar to his lady's but so different at the same time. He tried to get the words out, but he could only seem to get breaths of air to leave his mouth.

Marinette glanced back and forth between him and the photos of him covering her wall, hoping he wouldn't turn around and hate her forever for being such a creepy stalker.

Adrien walked closer to Marinette and placed a hand on her shoulder and looked deeper into her eyes, hoping it would help get the words out. _Why can't I say anything, what's wrong with me?_

Marinette placed her hand on top of his. She could feel his smooth skin and wanted desperately to move it to her face. It was like silk. "A-are you alright?" she asked.

"That depends," he managed to squeak out, "Are we okay?"

Marinette ripped her hand away. "What?"

He mirrored her action. "I mean, do you still think I'm a jerk from the first time we met? I don't think you would have let me into your room if you did, or maybe you were just being nice, it was your mom that invited me to come up here, but you still let me in…"

The words Adrien spoke seemed to go in one ear and right out the other side as all she could focus on how nervous he sounded, how nervous _she_ made _him._ That's not how it's supposed to work, he doesn't get nervous. It must be that's he's just a little confused, she dismissed.

"...so what do you think?"

Before Marinette could give him a response, a scream erupted from outside.


	4. Chapter 4

Adrien rushed to the window before Marinette could react, his eyes jolting around to locate the source of the sound. "It's an akuma," he informed Marinette, turning back from the window, "we should get somewhere safe."

He placed his hands on her shoulders again, shielding her body from whatever was outside the house. She began to blush harder and started to laugh nervously as she felt his hands guiding her shoulders.

Adrien opened the trapdoor out of Marinette's room when the sound of splintering wood and rushing wind filled the air. He quickly dove on top of her as he felt bits and pieces of the room around them slamming into every part of his body.

Marinette's mind flew far away from the imminent danger. Adrien's chest was touching her face, she could feel the softness of his shirt and the toned muscles underneath. She could feel herself flying into heaven as she breathed in his scent. _So what if he smells like cheese,_ she thought, _it's what I want to smell every day_.

Something gooey flew between the teenagers and Marinette felt Adrien's perfect body leave her side. He struggled as the black tar tightened around his body. Marinette looked over to the man holding her Adrien hostage as he laughed maniacally.

The akuma showed itself as it raised a second hand to Adrien's level. The man standing on top of it wore a suit that showed every color of the rainbow and a large 'Press' signed hung off the side of his hat. "Well, well, well," he spoke through his laugh, "what do we have here?"

He stepped off a floating pen and walked over to Marinette as she remained on the floor, Adrien and his prison following closely behind. "The famous Adrien Agreste and a baker's daughter, isn't that just the most fairy tale thing you've ever seen?"

The akuma bent over and placed his face barely an inch away from Marinette's, his breath smelt like the cold chill that runs down your spine. "I've always been a sap for a good love story. Now, who would better serve my narrative? The baker-" He stood up and placed a hand on Adrien's head "-or the prince?"

Adrien squirmed in the ink as it squeezed his lungs, "The prince, the prince!"

"How valiant," the akuma spoke in a mocking tone, "the prince giving himself up for the peasant girl. It almost brings a tear to my eye. Almost."

He placed a hand on Adrien's cheek and pulled his head until the akuma's mouth was next to Adrien's ear, "You must really love her."

Adrien flinched as the Akuma pressed his lips against Adrien's head. As he pulled away, Adrien wasn't moving. Marinette jumped to her feet and cried out his name, rushing towards the frozen boy. The akuma dropped the Adrien statue into Marinette's arms.

"Adrien," she whispered as she brushed his cheek. His once warm soft skin had now turned cold and rough. Marinette stared as her eyes slowly filled with water and she held on tighter to Adrien's stone face. Her fingers ran over the injection site as it oozed the same black tar that held him hostage. She cradled his pained expression in her hands, desperately hoping that she would see even a hint of life.

The akuma spoke to Marinette, but she couldn't hear his crackling voice through the tears that filled up her ears. She didn't need to, she could feel the laughs bounce against her back. She watched as the rainbow colored akuma walked out of the hole in her house and stepped onto his pen and floated out of sight.

It took several minutes for Marinette to catch her breath and stop the flood of tears that started to fall out of her eyes. She let Adrien fall onto the floor with a loud clunk as she could feel something starting to build inside herself.

Tikki flew out of underneath her bed and beside her face, "Marinette?"

Marinette didn't speak as she stood up and walked over to her desk. She grabbed onto her chair and began to squeeze as hard as she could. She knew that Adrien would always be in danger with her as Ladybug, he had even been dangled from the Eiffel tower; but that was only an illusion, not the real thing.

Marinette gripped the chair tighter.

This was real, this was the real Adrien. That was the real Adrien, lying dead as a doorknob in the middle of her bedroom. But she always thought that she could protect him. Even if the rest of Paris were to fall into fire and dust, she would always be there to protect him from anything. If she couldn't even protect Adrien the one chance she was given, what hope was there for protecting an entire city.

Her knuckles turned white as she

Marinette knew that if she purified the akuma, everything would go back, but this might be too far. She could clean up everything, but bringing something back to life was something different.

"Can I bring him back?"

The kwami paused for a second, "I know my magic can get whatever is in his system out, but he may not be-"

"Tikki, can I bring him back from the dead."

"Marinette, he may not be de-"

Marinette snapped her head to Tikki and stared down the kwami, "Can. I. Bring. Him. Back?"

Tikki paused for a second, preparing herself, "I don't know."

Marinette's fingers pierced the lining of her chair."Tikki," she whispered painfully, "spots on."

Ladybug showed up in the park in less than 10 minutes. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cat partner was nowhere to be seen. She approached the akuma as he arranged several statues in an almost chess-like formation. "Welcome Ladybug-" he turned around to face the superheroine of Paris and gestured towards the incapacitated civilians, "-would you like to play a game?"

"That depends," she spoke softly and with force, "does it involve you being put on trial for murder?"

"Murder? That's quite the accusation."

"You're injecting random fluids into them, there's no telling what that will do to a human. You're killing everyone you put that stuff into.

The akuma looked back at his row of trophies, "That wasn't my intention, but it still doesn't change my plan."

Ladybug, pulled out her yo-yo and began to spin her defensive circle. "Akuma's usually don't want only murder, what's your goal?"

"Well, because you asked so nicely, I'll tell you. There's a lot of thing in this world that people miss. The world is dying, people are starving, and death is all around us. That sounds important, but people only care about the celebrities. The people care more about what a pianist had for breakfast than when 50 people die in an hour. So, I've taken care of it."

"Through murder?"

"Of course, it's the only permanent solution."

The akuma approached Ladybug, avoiding the spinning yo-yo and placed a hand on her cheek. He moved their heads side by side, as he did with Adrien. "You're part of the problem, Ladybug."

As he moved closer to press his lips to her forehead, she dove backward letting her yo-yo slam against his jaw, staggering him. As he found his footing, Ladybug's yoyo wrapped around his neck and she pulled him down and pressed a foot against the string of her weapon.

The demented smile on his face didn't face, he began to chuckle as Ladybug pressed harder against his neck. "What's so funny?"

The akuma's voice was strained as he spoke, "What a headline, 'Ladybug the Killer'. What will Paris think?"

"I don't think that's what you should be worried about right now."

As his laughter grew, Ladybug felt her hands shaking and her grip getting looser. The akuma's pen appeared behind Ladybug and slapped her off and into a wall. She collapsed onto the floor while the akuma stood himself up, frantically looking around for any sign of red or black. "I knew you wouldn't do it Ladybug, you're too weak. Your pathetic reputation with the people of Paris is more important than doing what needs to be done to stop me."

Ladybug fell onto her knee, catching her breath. _Where's that damn cat_?

"Do I need to kill more people to make my point clear to you? You won't even see this in the news tomorrow."

The akuma began to walk around the park, following Ladybug's flight path. She quickly dove behind a bench, keeping her breath slow.

 _Where's that damn-_

"That's all good and all," a voiced echoed out, "but what's with the pen?"

Ladybug recognized the voice as Chat's, or at least she thought. Her head was still spinning after her head slammed into the brick wall at Mach 5.

The voice continued, "I mean, I get you're some sort of author or something, but is hawkmoth having an off day?"

"You see-"

"Cause I don't know if you know this, but today's journalists use computers."

"If you come out, I'll show you how powerful the pen is."

Something smacked the akuma in the back of the head. He spun around and began to ride his pen before getting smacked by another rock. As the akuma was distracted by the rock throwing menace, Ladybug peaked over the bench to find the akumatized object. A surge of pain ran through her body when she moved it.

She pressed her hand to her side, she couldn't feel any blood, but it felt like a sword had just run through her skin. She clenched onto the pain, trying to cut off the feeling to her sides. Ladybug could feel herself losing consciousness and her view of the world began to fade to black.

As the world turned to black, she felt two hands grab onto her tightly.


End file.
